Shaving apparatus



Patented June 14, 1949 SHAVING APPARATUS John Lorenz, Forest Hills, N..Y., .assignor, by

mesne assignments,

Greenwich, Conn.

Eleanor. U. Andrews,

ApplicationMarchl, 1945, Serial No. 580,376

This invention relates to shaving devices, and has particular referenceto the class of shaving devices known as dry shaving devices, and hasbeen shown in connection with the rotary cutter type shown in Moskovicsand Abrams Patents Nos. 2,119,021 and 2,280,836, for example.

In that type of dry shaver, a rotating cutter cooperates duringoperation with a perforated dome-shaped shear plate was tosever thehairs projected through the shear plate perforations, The rotatingcutter is provided with substantially radial slots including upwardly attheirouter-ends and containing corresponding cutter blades which respondto centrifugal force and move radially outwardly and axially upwardlyalong the inclined edges of the slots so as to move into'iiitimateengagement with the under surface of the shear plate.

This construction has been found satisfactory but as close tolerances inthe contours of cooperating surfaces are required, andthedesiredpressure of the cutter blades against the shear plate isdependent upon the weight of the blades, the objects of this inventionare to provide a construction in which the movement and pressure of thecutter blade against the shear plate is produced by a separatecentrifugally operated member, which engages and applies a substantialaxial force to the cutter blade at a point preferably opposite itscenter of gravity, thereby ensuring'uniform pressure against the shearplate along the entire length of the cutter'blade, and which operatessubstantially independently of the Weight of the cutter blade.

Other objects of this invention will'be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 shows an axial section through adry shaving device embodyingthe present'invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the llne 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an axial section through a modified form of the cutter of thisinvention.

For purposes of disclosure, I have shown' my invention as an improvementin the shaving apparatus disclosed in the patents referred to herein.

This apparatus illustrated in Fig. '1 consists of a housingconstitutinga handle andcontaining an electric motor of known type andhaving mounted on one end thereof a shaving head 12 which consists of atubular shell l4, preferably detachably secured by any suitable means to'the end of the handle Ill. 'Mountedin'theupper-end 9 Claims. (Cl.30'-43) r of the shell 14 is a dome-shaped shear plate I6 which isprovided with a plurality of apertures I l varying in size and shapeaccording to requirements.

Positioned below the shear plate It is the cutter which consists of agenerally cylindrical body 18 secured on the upper end of the motorshaft 19 and preferably made massive so as to act as a fly-wheel whenthe motor is rotating.

' As best shown in Fig. 2, the outer face of the cutter body It isprovided with angularly-spaced radial slots 28 of any desired number,such as four. The slots are of rectangular form open on the sideopposite the shear plate, and terminate short of the periphery of thecutter body as indicated at 22 to receive rectangular cutter blades 23provided with thin upper arcuate cutting edges conforming to theinterior curvature of theshear plate l6 and adpated to be projectedbeyond the body l8 against the inner face of the shear plate. The bladesare guided to move axially but are restrained against radial movement.

As shown in Fig. 3, the lower section of each slot intersects a pocket25 having inclined walls formed in the body t8 at a point midway betweenthe'ends of the slot and of sufficient size to receive acentrifugally-operated blade-actuating ball 26. The lower edge of thecutter blade 23 is provided with a lip or bearing 21 for the ball 26.The balls may be held in the position shown in Fig. 1 by the spring arms28 of a disc 29 secured against the inner end of the body by anysuitable means and hold the blades slightly spaced from the undersurface of the shear plate 16. The cutter body l8 may be made sectionalas shown.

The pocket 25 is preferably located about midway of the length of theslot 20, so that the ball will engage the cutter blade at a midpoint asshown to provide uniform and coextensive pressure of the cutting edge ofthe blade against the under surface of the shear plate H5. The outer end30 of the pocket 25 is inclined as shown at a suitable angle, and the.weight of the ball '26 is such as to move up the incline 30 in-responseto centrifugal force to effect the desired upward movement of the cutterblade 23 against the shear plate It when the motor is running at normaloperating speed.

In operation of the shaving device shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the blade23 is moved axially of the device by the ball 26 which engages the loweredge of the blade substantially at its midpoint-in all positions of theball, as the radial movement of'the ball is 'quite small.

In the modification of the cutter head shown in Fig. 4, the inclinedsurfaces 30' over which the balls 26 travel to engage and actuate theblades 23' are formed by upturned radial extensions on a sheet metaldisc 29 secured under the cutter, body I8, the balls 26' being locatedin pockets 25' in the cutter body l8 as before. The operation of themodification of Fig. 4 is the same as that of Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

As the movement of the cutter blade is axial, the shear plate may beflat or of other preferred contour radially. The invention is applicableto cylindrical cutters movable about an axis at right angles to that ofthe cutter shown. It is obvious that the cutter blade may be of anyshape and may be made of any weight and thickness of stock founddesirable for functional operation and ease and cost of manufacture asthe pressure of the cutter blade against the shear plate is a functionof the weight of the ball, and the speed of rotation of the motor.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that theinvention is susceptible of change in form and detail within the scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin aperturedskin contacting shear plate mounted on said handle, a member adjacent tothe under surface of said shear plate and rotatable on an axissubstantially normal thereto, a cutter blade mounted on said member formovement toward said shear plate, means for rotating said member, andseparate centrifugally operated means on said member for urging saidcutter blade into engagement with said shear plate as said memberrotates.

2. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin aperturedskin-contacting shear plate mounted on said handle, a member adjacent tothe under surface of said shear plate and rotatable on an axissubstantially normal thereto, said member being provided with asubstantially radial slot open on its side facing said shear plate, acutter blade supported in said slot for movement toward said shearplate, and centrifugally operated means cooperating with said member andmovable relatively to said cutter blade for urging said cutter bladeinto engagement with said shear plate.

3. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin aperturedskin-contacting shear plate mounted on said handle, a member adjacent tothe under surface of said shear plate and rotatable on an axissubstantially normal thereto, said member being provided with asubstantially radial slot open on its side facing said shear plate andhaving an outwardly inclined surface, a cutter blade supported in saidslot above said surface for movement toward said shear plate, and meanson said surface for movement therealong relatively to said blade inresponse to centrifugal force for urging said blade into engagement withsaid shear plate.

4. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin aperturedskin-contacting shear plate mounted on said handle, a member adjacent tothe under surface of said shear plate and rotatable on an axissubstantially normal thereto, said member being provided with asubstantially radial slot open on its side facing said shear plate, a

cutter blade supported in said slot for movement toward said shearplate, said member being provided with adjacent radially outwardlyinclined face, and a ball engaging said face and movable 4 therealong inresponse to centrifugal force for urging said blade in an axialdirection into engagement with said shear plate.

5. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin aperturedskin-contacting shear plate mounted on said handle, a member adjacent tothe under surface of said shear plate and rotatable on an axissubstantially normal thereto, said member being provided with asubstantially radial slot open on its side facing said shear plate, acutter blade supported in said slot for movement toward said shearplate, said slot having a bottom wall inclined radially outwardly towardthe lower edge of said blade, and a centrifugally-operated membercooperating with said edge of said blade and said inclined wall formovement along said wall in response to contrifugal force to urge saidblade into engagement with said shear plate.

6. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin aperturedskin-contacting shear plate mounted on said handle, a member adjacent tothe under surface of said shear plate and rotatable on an axissubstantially normal thereto, and provided with a substantially radialslot open on its side facing said shear plate and provided also with apocket intersected by said slot and having an upwardly inclined outerend wall, a cutter blade in said slot, and a ball in said pocketengaging said inclined outer end wall of said pocket for movementtherealong in response to centrifugal force to urge said blade intoengagement with said shear plate.

'7. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin aperturedskin-contacting shear plate mounted on said handle, a member adjacent tothe under surface of said shear plate and rotatable on an axissubstantially normal thereto, and provided with a substantially radialslot open on its side facing said shear plate and provided also with apocket intersected by said slot and having an upwardly inclined outerend wall, a cutter blade in said slot, a ball in said pocket engagingthe lower edge of said cutter blade and said inclined outer end wall ofsaid pocket for movement along the latter in response to centrifugalforce to urge said blade against the shear plate, said pocket having anopening in its bottom wall, and an exteriorly located closure memberoverlying said opening and adapted to be displaced to permit removal andinsertion of said ball in said pocket.

8. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a skin-contactingshear plate mounted on said handle, a cutter blade cooperating with theunder surface of said shear plate, means for moving said cutter over thesurface of said shear plate, and centrifugally-operated means associatedwith said cutter blade and moving means and movable relatively to saidcutter blade for urging the same into working contact with said shearplate as said moving means attains its working speed.

9. In a shaving device, the combination of a handle, a thin curvedapertured skin-contacting shear plate formed as at least part of asurface of revolution and mounted on said handle, a member adjacent theunder surface of said shear plate and movable about an axis includingthe center of curvature of said shear plate, said member being providedwith a substantially radial slot open on its side facing said shearplate, a cutter blade mounted in said slot for movement toward saidshear plate, and centrigually-operated means cooperating with saidmember and inde- 6 pendent of said cutter blade for urging said cut-UNITED STATES PATENTS ter blade mto engagement wlth sald shear plate inresponse to movement of said member. Number Name t JOHN Z, 2,178,976 TePas Nov. '7, 1939 2,247,798 Bean July 1, 1941 REFERENCES CITED 52,280,836 Moskovics Apr. 28, 1942 The following referenlces are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

